Lancelot's Lady (14 page)

Thumping footsteps indicated Misty
'
s return. She
'
d brought down three books, all fairy tales. She settled into a chair at the table, shoving the books eagerly toward Rhianna.

Misty handed her a book.
"
This one, Ms. McLeod.
"

Rhianna frowned. She was starting to feel like a drab spinster schoolteacher every time the girl addressed her so formally.

"
Misty, you can call me by my first name,
"
she signed.
"
I
'
m Rhianna.
"
She spelled her name.

The little girl
'
s eyes widened. Her hands flew into speech.
"
I can
'
t do that. Daddy would be mad. He says I have to call my teachers by their last names. It
'
s for…
"

"
Respect?
"

Misty shrugged.

"
That
'
s all right, Misty. We don
'
t have to tell your father. It can be our secret. We can even use a secret sign for my name. I
'
ll teach you how, okay?
"

Rhianna felt triumphant in the knowledge that she
'
d be going against Jonathan
'
s rules.

"
Rules, shmules!
"
she said with her back turned to Misty.
"
Rules are made to be broken. Anyway, your father broke the rules first.
"

The ASL course she
'
d taken a few years ago had taught her that to create special names for people, all one had to do was sign the first letter of the person
'
s name and connect it to something special about them. In the class, a woman named Arlene was used as an example. She was a dentist, so the letter
'
A
'
was signed with a brushing motion over the teeth.

"
What do you like doing, other than reading and playing with Barbies?
"
Rhianna signed.

Misty pinched the sides of her dress and began twirling.
"
I saw this on TV,
"
she signed when she
'
d stopped.
"
Daddy doesn
'
t know the sign.
"

"
Dancing.
"
Rhianna spelled the word first, then showed Misty the sign.
"
I
'
ve got the perfect idea for your special name.
"
She signed the letter
'
M
'
rocking back and forth across her other open hand.
"
Misty the dancer.
"

The girl twirled and signed simultaneously. She grabbed Rhianna
'
s hands and they spun in circles until they were dizzy.

Laughing, Misty flopped on her stomach across the bed. Rhianna followed suit. The girl
'
s small hand caressed Rhianna
'
s hair.

"
Your hair is very pretty,
"
Misty signed.
"
Your special name should be…
"
She signed an
'
R
'
by crossing her index and middle finger and moved them in spirals from the top of her head to her shoulder.

Rhianna copied her, smiling.
"
I like it.
"

"
How come my other teachers never taught me this?
"
Misty signed.

Rhianna rolled to one side and shook her head.
"
I don
'
t know.
"
She stared at the girl for a moment.
"
Why did your other teachers leave?
"

"
My first teacher made me memorize words all day. It was boring.
"

"
What about your last teacher?
"

"
She always fell asleep at the table. She was a hundred years old.
"

Rhianna knew Misty was exaggerating, but it didn
'
t change the facts. Jonathan had just assumed that these teachers would do their jobs. He
'
d also assumed that Misty was the difficult one, not the teachers.
             
             
             

"
Did you tell your father about your teachers?
"

"
He didn
'
t believe me. He thinks I
'
m stupid.
"

Rhianna blinked and unclenched her teeth.
"
Well, we
'
ll just have to show him how smart you really are.
"

"
Daddy has work to do,
"
Misty signed, looking away.

"
What kind of work?
"

"
Painting. Sometimes he lets me help him.
"

Ah,
Rhianna thought. Maybe Jonathan was painting that cabin she
'
d seen, the one he
'
d warned her away from.

"
How did you learn to lip read?
"

Misty shrugged.
"
I don
'
t know. I just know when someone is saying words I know. Can you teach me more? How to see more words?
"

"
I really don
'
t know how to teach lip reading. Maybe your father can get you a special teacher for that.
"

Misty
'
s eyes watered.
"
I don
'
t want another teacher, Rhianna. I want you.
"

The girl
'
s words hit hard. Misty would be heartbroken when Rhianna left the island.

But what about me? How will I feel?

She didn
'
t want to think of that. Not now.

Stroking Misty
'
s dark curls, she drew the girl close and hugged her.
"
Well, for now you
'
re stuck with me, kiddo. I
'
m not a hundred years old and I won
'
t fall asleep at the table. And if you promise to work hard on your lessons, I promise to make them as exciting as I can.
"

And I promise your father will know exactly what I think of him.

~ * ~

Rhianna didn
'
t see Jonathan until nearly nine o
'
clock that evening. Mrs. Atkinson had already left for the night and Misty was tucked in bed and fast asleep. Earlier, Rhianna had read three stories, while they waited to see if Jonathan would put in an appearance.

Rhianna waited now, silently fuming.

Without acknowledging her presence, Jonathan entered the living room and poured a drink. He took a long swig, then his gaze caught hers.

"
Misty says you think she
'
s stupid,
"
she blurted.

Jonathan lowered the glass.
"
Excuse me?
"

"
Her past teachers were the stupid ones,
"
she said.
"
Your daughter is a very bright girl.
"

"
I know that.
"

"
Then maybe you should tell her once in a while.
"
His calm demeanor infuriated her.
"
And maybe you should spend a little more time with her.
"

"
I do spend time―
"

"
Not enough. Not for a child.
"
Her nerves were on edge and prickly anger simmered on the surface.
"
Did you know Misty reads lips?
"

"
What?
"

For the first time, Jonathan looked flustered.

"
Your daughter can read lips. She
'
s picked it up on
her own. I
'
m not sure how good her comprehension is, but you can bet she understands more than what you
'
ve signed.
"

"
So what do I do now?
"

"
Spend more time with her, talk to her.
"

"
This is a bad time,
"
he insisted.
"
I have to―
"

"
No, you don
'
t.
"
She pursed
her lips.
"
You don
'
t
have
to do anything. Whatever room you
'
re painting can wait.
"

Jonathan
'
s mouth twitched.
"
Can it?
"

"
Misty said you
'
ve been busy painting for the past few weeks. That you
'
ve hardly spent any time with her.
"
Her eyes cut into him.
"
How can you be so selfish?
"

Jonathan set his glass on the bar.
"
So I
'
m selfish now, am I?
"
He sauntered toward her.
"
Some people actually have to work for their money.
"

Rhianna blinked.
"
What
'
s that supposed to mean? This is the first holiday I
'
ve―
"

"
I wasn
'
t talking about your holiday,
"
he snapped.

"
Then what are you talking about?
"

He glared at her.
"
I
'
m sure your employer―your
patient―
enjoys what you do for him, but some of us have real work to do.
"

"
Real work? You call painting a room or furn
iture or whatever you
'
re painting
work
? What are you really doing? Living off some rich trust fund your Daddy left you?
"

"
You don
'
t know what you
'
re talking about,
"
he growled.

"
Don
'
t I?
"
She waved a hand.
"
Look around. You own a private island, yet don
'
t go to work every day. So you either have a trust fund or no money at all.
"

"
Or I made wise investments,
"
he said dryly.

That he
'
d have money set aside hadn
'
t even occurred to her.

"
Look, Rhianna, I have until Roland comes back to finish what I
'
m working on. Then I
'
ll be leaving for the mainland.
"
He studied her for a minute.
"
You
'
ll be leaving too. Until then, keep your thoughts about my relationship with Misty to yourself.
"

"
Aye, aye, sir,
"
she retorted, saluting him.
"
Is this why your wife left you? Because you
'
re the big boss? Because you
'
re always too busy?
"